


starlight

by Freecure



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Character Death, Drabble Collection, M/M, Mild Blood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Wedding Fluff, but it's not graphic uhh, but that's not graphic either uhhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 08:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20112052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freecure/pseuds/Freecure
Summary: Riku and Roxas complimented each other, just like a star glistening in the night sky.





	1. descent

**Author's Note:**

> This is a drabble collection which contains drabbles.. that I've written as warmups/distractions from working on the CG sequel!

The curtain of night fell upon them, an elegant drape that brought forth comfort instead of fear. Roxas wore it proudly, excitedly as they stared out at the city below. It stretched on past the horizon, past the limitations of imagination. The bright lights of the city created a path for them to follow.

"Ready?" Riku asked, getting up from his uncomfortable crouched position. He wore the darkness well. He embraced it as it was, not seeking to bend it to his will, but asking for its aid, drawing on its power. A delicate relationship, one that needed to be respected.

"Yeah," Roxas breathed, but the volume of his words was too low. The sudden waft of wind snatched them from his mouth and kept them from reaching Riku's ears. "_Yeah_," Roxas repeated, louder this time. He neared the edge of the skyscraper, both of them did. The tips of their sneakers extended past the rooftop to open space. Below, the lights obscured the specifics of what was waiting for them, but they already knew.

"There's so many," Riku complained, rolling his shoulders. He didn't want to go, but no one ever did. After a time, fighting heartless started to sap the hope and strength from one's body. They just kept coming, as eternal as the night but a wielder's strength had limitations.

That's why they relied on others, right? Roxas shook his head, annoyed at himself. Sora wasn't around to hear him say such things.

Roxas lacklusterly fell off the rooftop, placing his fate in the hands of gravity. As he fell backwards, he watched as Riku followed him without a second thought. They descended into madness together, allowing the darkness to consume them with grasping, desperate hands. There was nothing to fear. There never was.

From the deepest shadow, the darkest abyss, came light. Oathkeeper and Braveheart sang together as they cut through shadows, staining the blades with inky blackness. Beady yellow eyes faded away. Claws that clung to their legs and arms did their damage before falling away. Bit by bit, the darkness left them.

Roxas looked up at the city's splendor. It made sense, then, that all that remained was light.


	2. ds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has death in it, but nothing too graphic.

Roxas couldn't believe he was in this position again. On his knees, tears spilling down his cheeks, and his arms carefully cradling a dear friend. Wasn't once enough? Would his destiny always be so brutal and cold-blooded? Would tragedy always follow him, an unwanted specter that reminded him of his failures at every turn and did not hesitate to invite and create new ones?

_It's not fair,_ Roxas thought mournfully as he watched darkness embrace and take hold of someone he cherished.

"Is..." He coughed up blood, but it wasn't red. It mixed with darkness, an inky shadow that landed on his chest. He closed his eyes in pain and looked to Roxas again, his brow furrowed, determined to speak. "Is Sora... alright?"

Roxas wanted to scream. Always Sora. _Always_. It was how he'd gotten himself into the situation in the first place. How the swaths of darkness had laid claim to his heart despite his immunity. How he'd allowed it, standing stalwart and perfect against an unholy wave of night. Roxas hadn't been fast enough, seeing to their heart instead of standing with him and the oncoming storm.

"Of _course _he's alright," Roxas muttered through the tears and the pain, through the inevitable. No matter how much darkness he absorbed, it kept coming. No matter how much of it he returned to light, it persisted, a virus that Roxas couldn't cure or root out no matter how hard he tried. All that talk about being a master of both, and his knowledge wasn't helping him. His mind was blank. He couldn't focus, he couldn't think to do anything but uselessly try and take hold of Riku's darkness, but there was too much of it.

He always had to do everything on his own, didn't he?

Riku smiled, a content smile. The same one she'd given him. The same one he'd given to Sora. That accepting smile. The unavoidable smile that led to tearful goodbyes and reckless missions to right wrongs. Roxas lifted a hand and placed his fingers against that smile. He shook his head, words failing him as he tried to pull Riku's lips down. Don't smile like that, Roxas wanted to say. Don't give up. Fight it! Fight like you always have.

_Now _is when you give up? When you're dying in my arms?

"Good..." Riku's spoke, softer than a whisper. His voice was a thought in the back of Roxas' mind. So sweet and faint. What happened to that confidence? Roxas' hand fell to his throat, clearing away the darkness only for it to reform seconds later. His fingers touched Riku's skin lightly. Speak up, Roxas wanted to say. I can't hear you, speak up!

Riku's hand — his left hand because it always was the left with the two of them — touched Roxas' wrist. He moved Roxas' hand up to his cheek, a place untouched by darkness for the moment. Riku looked at him then, truly looked at him through the darkness and pain. "I'm sorry," he apologized slowly, all of his strength going to keeping Roxas' hand where it was, on his cheek. Their first connection. The one that managed to break through walls of hate and pain.

Roxas brushed his thumb across Riku's cheek, wiping away tears and shadows. "Riku..." he whispered, the only word that could make it past his clogged throat. He had so much to say, but he couldn't say it! If Sora were here, he would put Roxas' heart to words, he'd speak the truth that Riku so desperately needed to hear, but Roxas _wasn't _Sora and the words were left unsaid.

"I didn't mean... to put you through this..." Riku muttered, teal shining against the backdrop of everlasting darkness. Riku's eyes were so beautiful. Even as the light faded, they still held sway over Roxas' heart. "I guess... I wasn't as strong as I thought."

"_Shut up_," Roxas snapped, his thumb scratching Riku's cheek now. His thick eyebrows furrowed and his eyes bore into Riku's tired ones. The wave of darkness was gone, taking up residence in Riku's heart. He had accepted it all, relying on his invulnerability and expertise to see him through. But too much darkness, no matter the heart, was deadly. Riku was no exception.

Riku chuckled weakly, two quick but subtle laughs that warded the darkness for an instant, but it came ever closer. "Roxas, I..."

"_No_," Roxas insisted, gripping Riku harder, pulling him closer to his chest as if the light inside would heal Riku completely. Even a sudden deluge would do nothing against the amount of darkness in Riku's heart. "No last words. No—" Roxas choked, the lump in his throat impeding his speech. He lowered his voice, a secret between the two of them. "No goodbyes."

Riku's expression softened even more so. He tilted his head and kissed Roxas' thumb, a ghost of a touch that made fresh tears fall down Roxas' face. "No goodbyes," Riku repeated.

Roxas' heart ached. He could feel it and so could Riku. Within seconds, Riku would be transformed into the adversary of every keyblade wielder. Before that horrible change, Roxas leaned down and pressed a delicate kiss to Riku's lips. A ghost of a touch. A promise of more. An incomplete show of affection that left Riku wide-eyed and wanting.

"I'll find you," Roxas promised. _He _made the vow this time. His own choice, his own goal, with his own resolve. The full weight of his strength and anger would go to seeing it through and his eyes declared the oath for Riku to see.

Riku leaned upward just a little, just so that their noses touched. The darkness enveloped him and the last thing Roxas' saw was the enchanting teal of his eyes right before they fell to shadow.


	3. midnight black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't you just love weddings? this one is based off of Tay's [beautiful wedding piece](https://twitter.com/ignightroad/status/1154155070046556161) that I had to write something for!!

It's raining, because it's always raining in The World That Never Was. As the guests gather on the pitch black concrete of Memory's Skyscraper, there's a quiet in the air. They converse in hushed whispers, quiet contemplation. A wedding held here, of all places? In the cold rain? In a shattered world where the heart of all hearts once stood?

Yes _here_, Sora insists, showing everyone where to sit. Taking his role as double best man very seriously. This place is important to both of them.

Oh, they mutter in understanding, but they weren't there. Only two people fought in the cold that night. Only two were there in the battle that dictated their fates.

And so, it only stood to reason that those very same two would come together where fate brought them first.

Underneath the pavillion, the guests in their beautiful formal wear are safe from the rain and the brisk winds. Naminé fusses over her dress. Xion can’t take her eyes off the wedding cake. Pence takes photos of friends, of the midnight sky, of the looming skyscraper where it had all culminated. Olette checks her watch for the fourth time in the last ten seconds. Weddings need to start on time and Riku and Roxas are cutting it close.

Kairi guards the door of an abandoned building. The door is slanted, it takes a steady hand with strength behind it to open, but Kairi has grown over the years. She’s not to be underestimated. She’s the _perfect_ keeper for the two. She closes her ears to soft whispers and sweet somethings and smiles.

“I can’t believe you never learned how to tie a tie,” Riku admonishes, careful fingers dutifully wrapping the piece of cloth over and around itself. Roxas stares down at his work, following his fingers for a second before giving up and looking to Riku’s eyes instead.

“We all weren’t raised in wealth like you,” Roxas teases, lifting his hands to smooth out Riku’s tuxedo.

“Sucks to be you,” Riku replies, and flinches when Roxas pinches him. “Hey! You can’t be an ass to me today, we’re getting married.”

Roxas falters just as Riku finishes tying his tie. He leans forward, his forehead resting against Riku’s collarbone. “Don’t say that,” he whispers helplessly.

Riku wraps his arms around him, holds him, cradles him, moves his face into that dark blonde hair and breathes. “Don’t say what?” Riku whispers, moving his hand in soothing circles along Roxas’ back. “That we’re getting married today?”

“_Riku_,” Roxas groans, his hands gripping Riku’s tuxedo.

“Because I want to scream it,” Riku continues, his words a quiet mumble as he utters them into Roxas’ hair. “Everyone here already knows, but I’m ready to run to the top of that skyscraper and let the entire _universe _know.”

“For _fuck’s--_”

“If I could summon Kingdom Hearts, I _would_ so that the heart of all worlds could stand witness to--”

Roxas pulls away, leans upward, and silences Riku with a forceful, impassioned kiss. He grips Riku’s collar, pulls him closer, and kisses him with everything he has.

The first thing Riku feels is annoyance, which he understands. Roxas is annoyed nearly half the time, but the excitement and love that follow through leave him floored. Earnestness and affection are the aftertaste and Riku follows Roxas when he pulls away, eager for more, left wanting, as Roxas so often leaves him.

Roxas smirks. “Shut the fuck up.”

Riku frowns. “Roxas, I just told you to not be an ass today.”

“I’ll only do that if you dial back your hopeless romantic meter.”

That’s impossible for Riku to do and they both know it. Which is why Roxas said it, because it is also impossible for Roxas to _not_ be an ass for an extended period of time. But he lifts a hand to caress Riku’s cheek with his thumb. His eyes soften, piercing ice melts into a calm, lazy river. Riku stares, transfixed, heart swelling with love as thinks for at _least_ the tenth time today that he’s in love. That he’s as happy as he possibly can be.

Roxas smiles and that’s the last arrow in Riku’s heart. “I love you,” he says, quiet, sweet, _genuine_. He lifts his hand and runs delicate fingers along the paopu fruit accessory in Riku’s hair.

Riku staggers but Roxas is there to hold him up. A single arm wraps around Riku’s waist and Roxas smirks in that confident, asshole way of his. “Can’t believe I can still manage to sweep you off your feet.”

“Roxas--”

“On our _wedding day_ no less.”

Riku rights himself, furrows his brows, tries to look angry even though he knows it’s not working. “I thought you said not to say it?”

“Only _I_ can say it,” Roxas replies quickly, having seen that question coming.

“Right,” Riku nods, but rolls his eyes at the same moment. He recalls that he has yet to return Roxas’ affections. It’s his favorite thing to do, to whisper the words, to shout them over large distances in public, to write them on post it notes in the kitchen, to mutter them dazed and confused in the morning, to weep them during late nights when their hearts are laid bare.

Riku takes Roxas’ right hand in his left and holds it tightly. Instinctively, they move closer. Their foreheads touch and Riku’s bangs brush against Roxas’ forehead and cheek, making him chuckle under his breath. Oh, those blue eyes. Such devotion, such fury, such fearlessness. Riku stares infatuatedly as he drowns in their depths.

“I _love_ you,” Riku breaths between them. He starts to choke up, on the verge of tears but he pushes through even as Roxas readies his left hand to catch each falling star. “Forever and always.”

Roxas takes a breath and holds it, his eyes searching Riku’s, navigating the endless, boundless sea of his eyes. He lets it out slowly and it smells like sea-salt ice cream and paopu fruit mixed together. “Forever and always,” he whispers back, and then his soft smile takes a turn for the worse. “_Bitch_.”

Riku is stunned for a moment and then laughs, leans forward to laugh against Roxas’ lips and carries that same laughter into a kiss. “You ruined our moment,” he laments after pulling away.

“Save it for the vows,” Roxas tells him, kissing along Riku’s jaw, his chin, his nose, and each cheek. “I can only take so much of your romanticism.”

“Mm, you say that now, but the night before last, you couldn’t get enough of it,” Riku calls him out, remembering the way Roxas had ran his fingers through Riku’s hair, twisting the long strands into terrible braids and plats as Riku muttered beautiful words into the crock of his neck.

Roxas frowns and Riku begins to snicker. “I will throw down on our wedding day. It’ll be like the first time we met but with a lot more collateral damage.”

“Roxas, _please. _Think of the guests,” Riku says, kissing Roxas on the forehead before moving to the door.

Roxas follows, messes with his tie, nerves setting in. Riku reaches over to squeeze his left hand. “I _am_. They’d get a wedding and a show.”

Riku rolls his eyes. “The wedding _is _the show.”

“We should exchange rings while running on the skyscraper,” Roxas suggests, laughing immediately at the look Riku gives him. “I’m serious! We exchanged keyblades, let’s exchange rings.”

Riku knocks twice on the old wooden door to get Kairi’s attention. “Kairi, please let us out before I call this wedding off.”

“_Wow_,” Roxas exclaims loudly, for the whole wedding party to hear. Kairi begins to move the door and Riku looks back exhaustively at his soon-to-be husband. “What happened to all that ‘forever and always’ stuff, Riku? That was _two fucking minutes _ago.”

“Two minutes ago you didn’t suggest running along a skyscraper to exchange our rings.”

“It would be cool.”

“It would _not_.”

“Sounds to me like you two could use another minute,” Kairi says, peaking through the little opening with concern.

“Nah, we’re ready,” Roxas says, running his thumb against the back of Riku’s hand. He turns to him then, challenge in his eyes, humor in his voice. “I bet you’d agree to it if it were a race.”

Riku sighs tiredly, leaning his head back and nearly causing his hair to fall out of his perfectly styled braid. “Roxas, we’re not teenagers anymore. We can’t--”

“First one to the top gets to say their vows first,” Roxas interrupts.

They're silent. Kairi has removed the door and is staring at them both expectantly. Riku can hear the telltale wedding march being played over the sound system Pence and Hayner had set up. The rainfall is a quiet accent that brings it all together.

Riku looks into Roxas’ eyes, weighs his options, relishes in the feeling of Roxas’ hand in his and thinks, for the eleventh time that he’s in love, and he’s as happy as he possibly can be. “_Fine_.”


	4. collapsing star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, there's death in this one again.

_... Three... Two... One..._

_Heal._

Curaga wasn't working.

He'd lost track of how many times he'd tried, how many times he'd grasped, pulled, and _yanked _at the magical power inside of him to reverse the damage. He was stuck in the ceaseless loop of healing, waiting, praying, and healing again. He blinked slowly, snowflakes on his eyelashes hindering his vision but he couldn't bring himself to wipe his face, to move from the intimate position they were in.

_... Fifteen... Fourteen... Thirteen..._

In the midst of a bleeding, broken world, the sky cried its frosted tears, covering them both in a blanket of cold. There were quakes and aftershocks, shaking them as the world fell apart at the seams. A world was dying and Riku couldn't move. His eyes stayed staunchly focused on the face of someone he cherished, someone he loved. His fingers — stiff with ice capped tips — touched Roxas' left cheek tenderly, as if afraid that just a bit more contact would shatter him in his arms.

_... Eleven... Ten... Nine..._

How badly he wanted to see those fierce eyes, bright, capable, fearless. He wanted to gaze into cerulean blue and lose himself. What would he give to hear his voice? Overconfident, sarcastic, impassioned, Riku was _desperate _for it. His heart was suspended with hope that any moment, any second life would return and with it, so would his heart. He could stop being a sorrowful husk of himself and return to who he was before. He waited, anxiously patient, for those eyes to open. For the fragile, gentle, blood covered face he held in his hand to be renewed, rejuvenated with vigor and spirit. With light, strength and a rage that was terrifying yet inspiring.

Riku waited. He waited, and waited, and _waited _as the snow continued to fall, as the world was seconds from dying, as Roxas went still in his arms, he waited.

_... Three... Two... One..._

_Heal._

Nothing.

The petals dissipated uselessly just as they had each and every time Riku had cast the spell, but he stayed still, stayed patient. As the seconds counted down, as white dust fell from the heavens, he thought of fate and destiny. Was it destiny that decided the outcome of a collapsing star? Was it fate that Roxas would give his all trying to save it? Was it predestined that he'd burn so brightly, a beacon of hope, of love, of light, before fading? Was it meant to be that Roxas would fall into Riku's arms, battered, bloody, seconds from death with the most gorgeous smile Riku had ever seen?

Was it _his _destiny to just accept that?

_... Twelve... Eleven... Ten..._

Riku hated the words. Everything was a choice. Riku had made his choices, set them all upon the path of pain and suffering and he had to deal with them. Roxas had made his choice, to become a falling star and give his all to save a world so important to him. Riku caught him in his arms and held him, wishing that he'd made different choices. Wishing that he'd spoken his mind. Wishing that he'd kissed Roxas like he'd wanted to, under the falling dust and crisp snow underneath their feet.

He couldn't blame fate, couldn't blame destiny for his own failings. He held a broken person in his arms, cold, still, and beautiful.

_... Five... Four... Three..._

Roxas had hated fate, had defied it. He'd told Riku that his very existence proved fate wrong. He'd been so adamant, so stubborn and stuck to his truths. His thick furrowed brows and slanted smile sent Riku over the moon. The way he'd grasp Riku's hand awkwardly with inexperience. The way he'd get onto him with a touch of love hidden in the inflection of his voice.

Riku's fingers graced his cheek, his lips, his chin. Robotic movements, shivering fingertips doing their best to replicate a touch that could no longer be done. "Roxas..." he whispered, his voice as broken as his heart. "You told me you were invincible once, remember?"

Roxas didn't answer.

Riku kept talking.

"You know, I thought..." Riku's words were so small, so quiet as he sat helplessly in the last hours of a world. The wind blew Roxas' hair, disturbed it, breathed artificial life into him that made the hope in Riku's heart continually rise and fall. "I thought... _you _were my destiny..."

Roxas couldn't answer, couldn't complain about Riku's sappy speech. Couldn't shove him and walk away angrily with flushed cheeks. Couldn't reach up and yank on Riku's collar to pull him into a kiss.

Riku's breath came out in long trails of smoke, his lips chapped and close to bleeding, his body numb to the cold, to the destruction, to the danger. His fingers touched Roxas' lips, cold and lifeless. "Was I..." He couldn't say the words, couldn't accept the situation, he _**couldn't**_. Roxas had defied fate, had hated it. He'd seen things that not even Riku knew about, knew truths that eluded any Master. Roxas was wise in a way that the world needed, pensive, thoughtful, pessimistic, doubtful.

Roxas sought out his own truths, his own beliefs. If he had questions, he found the answers himself. He would come to his own conclusions and believe in them.

Riku had to do that now as he held his heart in his ice capped hands. He had to create his own truth, had to defy fate, defy _death itself._ He _**refused **_to let this happen, to accept a reality that he didn't want. Roxas was supposed to be a part of his life. He was sure of that, as sure as light complimented darkness.

He wouldn't give up. He would keep trying, keep waiting, keep praying, keep healing until things changed. He would be as stubborn as Roxas, he would create his own truths, he would hold tightly onto him, refuse to let him go, refuse fate's cruel hand. Riku would fight like he always had, like the _two _of them always had. He would fight the stars themselves just to look into those eyes again, to hear that voice, to kiss those lips.

So he stayed. In the cold, dead world, he stayed, frozen in place, fingertips placed on Roxas' cheek, hair and body blanketed in snow. He would stay in their last moment of intimacy, where he could still hear Roxas' voice on the wind, feel his warm hand on his cheek, hear his snarky voice in his ear. Riku would stay and fight and heal and wait and pray until his truth was restored. Until those eyes opened and their owner glared up at him, exhausted, but alive.

If the two of them fell through the world, Riku would keep holding on. If they fell to the stars, lost in the cosmos, Riku would hold Roxas as tightly as he could. If time and space came against them, Riku would brandish his blade and fight it, just as Roxas would. _This _was their truth. They were to be together, always and forever.

_... Two... One..._

_Heal_.

Nothing.


	5. talk and touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is based off of an AU of [ignightroad's](https://twitter.com/ignightroad) called Masters AU! It's got everything you could possibly want! Older, married rikuroku? You got it! Keyblade Masters living in their own place by the beach? of course! Riku spending two years in the Realm of Darkness alone? haha, no problem! Riku and Roxas trying to keep their marriage together as Riku struggles with PTSD and Roxas feels neglected and alone but also deeply saddened that his husband will never be the same? Boy howdy, you're gonna love it!

The coffee warmed his chilled hands, the ceramic mug smooth against his skin. Roxas stared down at the liquid with unfocused eyes and a heavy heart. He sat on the deck, on the stairs that lead out onto the white sand and further to the beach. It was dawn and the sun took its sweet time coming up over the horizon. Roxas watched the steam from his mug move with the breeze. He couldn’t bring himself to take a sip.

The screen door opened and closed behind him. Roxas tensed without meaning to, and he cursed himself for it. At one time, he’d thought… He’d thought there was nothing to fear, but there was. Roxas wasn’t one to listen to fear, to give into it, but he’d almost died. His certainty and arrogance had almost cost him his life. He gripped the mug harder. A crack appeared around the handle.

Riku hesitantly joined him on the stairs. He didn’t carry a mug of coffee or anything really, just a solemn expression and a yearning gaze reserved for the ocean alone. Roxas glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but then quickly looked away. The goosebumps were new, unpleasant. Was the trembling out of rage? Roxas would tell himself it was, no matter the truth.

“Sleep well?” Roxas asked, his voice hoarse. He didn’t bother clearing his throat. After the screaming, crying, and whispering that he’d suffered through yesterday, it was a miracle he could be heard at all.

Riku said nothing, as he so often did. He was stoic, silent, contemplative. He looked out over the ocean silently, leaving Roxas to stew in his own misery, leaving him alone to deal with the stupidity of his own actions.

Back when they were dating, when they were young in love and their greatest worry was when they were going to see each other next, Riku had been _so_ talkative. Constantly asking questions, pointing things out, commenting, flirting, sweet talking. Roxas had been the quiet one, relying more on physical action to convey what he was feeling. Riku understood. Through the pushes, bumps, flicks, pinches and shoves, Riku could tell what Roxas was feeling.

They’d switched places. It was up to Roxas to discern what his husband was feeling based on action alone, based on the look in his eye. But when he looked at Riku, he only saw loneliness which led to a depth of feelings that Roxas couldn’t quite understand, that he couldn’t comprehend because he wasn’t _there_. He’d seen a glimpse of it last night. In a bright cyan eye, Roxas had dealt with the torment and pain Riku had been through in the Realm of Darkness.

He’d never be able to fully understand. But they could work through it together. They could overcome it _together_. They were both strong willed, stubborn, foolish, reckless — but they loved each other. And that love was the strongest connection they had between them.

Roxas loved Riku with his whole heart, his entire body, his absolute _soul_. He loved him to death. He was reckless, he’d proved that last night by encouraging Riku to remove his blindfold. He was foolish, letting Riku go alone, and he was _stubborn_ because he wasn’t going to allow them to fall apart. He wasn’t going to let their relationship slip like sand through his fingers, each grain a beautiful memory he wouldn’t trade for the world.

Roxas set down his mug of coffee beside him. The sun peaked out from behind the horizon, greeting them with a hearty hello and a sliver of warmth. The dawn. Beautiful, enchanting, luminous, a new day, a new start. Riku… wouldn’t ever be completely the same; Roxas had to understand that. He’d spent two years in such a terrible place without anyone by his side and Roxas knew how that felt, to wander alone. But Riku wasn’t alone anymore and he’d _never_ be again.

Loyal. Roxas was _loyal_, too, and he wasn’t going to leave Riku’s side. No matter the danger, the enemy, or threat. That’s where he was supposed to be; that’s where he _wanted_ to be. Beside his husband. Always and forever.

He moved his right hand and gently took Riku’s left in his own, leading their fingers in a slow dance of intertwining. Riku didn’t say anything, he continued to look out at the view, but he held tight to Roxas’ hand, kept that connection, grasped it firmly.

Roxas smiled as he rubbed his thumb along the back of Riku’s hand. Back and forth, to the song of the waves. He understood that. Riku was just as stubborn and loyal as he was. They watched the dawn together, brisk winds bringing the smell of the sea with them.

Roxas would talk, then. He would hold Riku’s hand, treasure him just as deeply as Riku treasured him. He would look into his eye to read his heart, observe his actions to understand his feelings, and Roxas would _tell_ Riku how he felt. He would open his mouth and scramble for words. He would string together sentences and place them around Riku’s neck, a necklace of reminders, of love that he would never be without.

“I love you,” Roxas started, a truth that sat at the very heart of their relationship. “Forever and always.”

Riku kept silent but their connection didn’t waver, didn’t tremble or shake, it stayed steady. Roxas understood that, too.

“Did I tell you what happened the last time Sora was here?” Roxas asked, looking over at Riku with a smile. “He made such a silly mistake when he brought those muffins over. He put salt in them instead of sugar.”

The breeze tousled Riku’s hair, silver strands brushing along his nose and cheeks.

“That’s why the trash was full of muffins in case you were wondering,” Roxas explained, scooting closer to Riku as the breeze carried an early morning chill. “Don’t worry, I waited until he left to toss them out. I know how he gets about his cooking.”

As Roxas pressed closer, Riku didn’t shirk away. He sat contently, blinking as the sun’s rays graced the ocean’s waters.

Roxas kept going. “I talked to Xion, too, the other day…”

They stayed like that, basking in the morning light, watching the cycle unfold in front of them with weary souls but determined hearts. As the hours stretched on and Roxas’ coffee mug gradually emptied, Riku calmly leaned his head against Roxas’.

_That_… Roxas understood most of all.

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh, rikuroku... the hold you have on my heart ❤


End file.
